Starrcade (2000)
Starrcade (2000) was the eighteenth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on December 17, 2000 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. This was the final Starrcade event produced by WCW, as it was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in March 2001. Another Starrcade event would not be produced for another seventeen years, when WWE used the name for a special live event in 2017. The main event was between Scott Steiner and Sid Vicious for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Shortly after Steiner won the title at Mayhem, the previous pay-per-view event, Vicious was scheduled to face Steiner for the title at Starrcade. Their feud continued after the event until Sin, the following event, when a severe injury forced Vicious to leave professional wrestling. The event also included a tag team match between The Perfect Event and The Insiders for the WCW World Tag Team Championship and a match between Lex Luger and Goldberg. In 2015, all WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network. Storylines The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. The main feud heading into Starrcade was between Scott Steiner and Sid Vicious over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Steiner won the title from Booker T at Mayhem, the previous pay-per-view event. The following night on WCW Monday Nitro, Vicious was announced as Steiner's opponent in the title match at Starrcade. Vicious and Steiner brawled on the shows leading up to Starrcade. Another feud was between the Perfect Event and the Insiders (Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash) over the WCW World Tag Team Championship. The Perfect Event was a part of The Natural Born Thrillers group, and Nash was their mentor. However, on the November 6 edition of Nitro, the Natural Born Thrillers turned on Nash, and Nash teamed with Page to feud with the group. At Mayhem, the Insiders won the title, but were stripped of it on the December 4 edition of Nitro due to a technicality concerning the ending of the match. The Perfect Event was awarded the title, and a rematch was made for Starrcade. On the October 2 edition of Nitro, Vince Russo, an authority figure, made Bill Goldberg begin an undefeated streak. If Goldberg exceeded his previous streak of over 170 matches, he would be awarded a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. If he failed to do so, he would have to leave the company. Goldberg continued his streak, and Lex Luger challenged him on the October 30 edition of Nitro, starting their feud. Goldberg defeated Luger in a match at Mayhem. A rematch was made between them at Starrcade, and Luger attacked Goldberg on the following shows with a steel chair. The Sarge, who was credited for training Goldberg, also joined the feud, and aligned with Goldberg. Luger attacked The Sarge several times to taunt Goldberg. Aftermath The feud between Scott Steiner and Sid Vicious continued after the event. The following night, Ric Flair, the on-screen president of WCW, announced that Steiner would defend the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in a Three Way match at Sin. Jeff Jarrett won a four-man tournament to become one of the challengers in the match as Flair kept the identity of the other challenger a mystery. As Jarrett and Steiner planned to work together in the match, Flair added Vicious to the match. Road Warrior Animal was revealed to be the mystery challenger, and Steiner retained the title. The feud, however, came to an end immediately after the event as Sid suffered a severe compound fracture of his left leg during the match after performing a move off the top rope; the injury led to his retirement from full-time competition and he did not wrestle again for three years. Steiner was placed into feuds with Diamond Dallas Page and Kevin Nash over the next two months, defeating Nash at SuperBrawl Revenge and Page at Greed before the company was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He lost his title to Booker T on the last edition of WCW Monday Nitro held eight days after his match with Page. Since the WWF purchased WCW, the 2000 edition of Starrcade went down as the final edition. By 2000, WCW had fallen from its peak and had largely become an afterthought, having lost $62 million in 2000 alone. WCW was put up for sale, and was purchased by the WWF on March 23. Not all of its wrestlers' contracts were purchased in the deal, however, and Steiner's was one of those that were not (hence, why Booker T defeated him). Soon after, the WWF began the "Invasion" storyline, where WCW became a group of wrestlers led by Shane McMahon with the intention of taking over the WWF. Steiner did eventually join what is now WWE in 2002, and many other WCW stars would eventually become part of the company like Nash, Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, and Goldberg. Most, however, did not stay; Nash left the company in 2003 after an injury-filled campaign, with Steiner leaving in early 2004 after failing to sustain his WCW success and Goldberg only spending one largely uneventful year in WWE despite winning the World Heavyweight Championship (until his return to WWE in 2017). Hall was fired shortly after signing with the company due to an incident involving public drunkenness on an airplane, and Hogan made sporadic appearances after 2003 before departing altogether in 2009 for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. While not all of the former WCW stars enjoyed success, some did; Page was a tag team champion and European Champion while with the company while Booker T eventually won the WWE Triple Crown. Hogan would also win the Undisputed WWE Championship shortly following his return to the company in 2002. Results Other on-screen personnel See also * Starrcade * List of WCW pay-per-view events Category:Starrcade Category:World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view events Category:2000 Pay-Per-View Events